Haunt
by DJsaxby16
Summary: These people had lived among us for so many years, they had made lives for themselves. Now, after thirty years, the past resurfaces.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my Firefly/Castle crossover fic. I have never done a crossover fic before, so I decided to give it a shot. For Castle, it will be set towards the end of season 5. Before the D.C. thing, and after Castle saves Beckett from the bomb. For Firefly, it will be set after the BDM. One major difference though, Wash is alive in this story. I tried to write him out, but I couldn't find a way.**

**xxxxx**

_Gunshots, explosions all through the air. The sounds of the soldiers under his command, the screams of terror and battle surrounded him._ _"We Can't die Bendis", he tells the young soldier, "And you know why? Because we are so very pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die." His hopes only to be crushed a mere minute later, the air fighters destroy everything in site. _Castle woke up with an enormous jolt. In this he woke up the woman sleeping next to him.

"Castle, what's wrong?", Beckett asked looking worried. Castle wiped the sweat from his head and looked back at her.

"Sorry Kate, bad dream. A real bad dream."

"It must be, your side of the bed is soaked.", he looked and saw that his entire upper body was drenched, "What was it?", she asked putting her hand on his shoulder. Castle new he couldn't tell her, so he told another lie.

"I don't remember. I'm sorry.", he said giving her a small kiss. Just then her cell phone rang.

"Beckett... Where?... Ok, we're on our way.", she looked back at Castle.

"Either the precinct misses us that bad, or there's a body.", she grinned at him and gave him a quick kiss.

* * *

It was around nine in the morning and they were on the way to the crime scene. Castle didn't say anything on the way there, Beckett thought this highly abnormal for him. That being said, he seemed really shaken when he woke up, so she didn't bother him. They came to a street where a body was lying down on the sidewalk. As Castle and Beckett arrived, Esposito came to greet them.

"What do we got?", asked Beckett.

"Male, late 20s, Caucasian.", replied Esposito.

"Cause of death?"

"Gunshot wound to the chest.", replied Lanie.

"Ok we got a time of death?"

"An hour ago.", replied Ryan. "Witnesses state that a man literally came out of nowhere, shot our vic, and just disappeared."

"What do you mean 'disappeared'?", asked Castle.

"Just that, before anyone knew what was going on, the guy vanished."

"Hmm... I'm goin with either teleportation or invisibility.", Beckett just rolled her eyes.

"We got an ID on the vic?"

"Robert Johnson. Wallet and watch was with him, so it doesn't look like a mugging."

"We get a description of the shooter?"

"About mid-40's, Caucasian, six ft, brown hair, and an eye patch over his right eye.", replied Ryan.

"Hey check this out.", Esposito carried a plastic bag with a bullet shell in it. He opened it up and pulled the shell out. Beckett took a look at it and noticed something engraved running down the shaft of it.

"Are those Chinese characters?", asked Beckett. Castle heard this and walked up next to her.

"Can I see that?", Castle looked at the shell closely, "They're numbers: 4862."

"Wait you read Chinese?", asked Esposito.

"Mandarin mostly. Got it from a TV show I used to love.", he lied once again.

* * *

At the precinct, Beckett was putting everything up on the board. "Ok so our victim's name is Robert Johnson. He's a student at Columbia university. He has stayed the night at his girlfriends apartment and left at around 7:50 AM. Estimated time of death was around 8:10 AM."

"So anything on our teleporting Chinese assassin?", asked Castle.

"You know, only you could say that out loud and say it so nonchalantly." replied Beckett. "We get anything on the girlfriend?"

"They're bringin her in right now.", replied Ryan.

"Good.", Beckett looked over and saw Castle sitting in his chair, not speaking all of a sudden. She went over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you ok?", Castle looked up at her and smiled.

"Yea I'm fine. It's just, the way those characters were on the shell. It seemed familiar." Just then Beckett's phone rang and Lanie called them down.

"So I dug the slug out of our vic and... Well look.", Beckett looked at the slug under a magnifying glass and noticed a symbol on it. A symbol she didn't recognize. "Huh, what is it?" Lanie just shrugged. Castle walked over and looked over her shoulder.

"Is it another chara-", he stopped dead in mid sentence. Beckett then noticed something was wrong. Castle's eyes grew very wide and his breaths became shorter.

"Castle? What is it?", he didn't even reply. He just turned around and started walking fast to the elevator. She managed to stop, the elevator doors from closing. "Rick, what's going on?"

"Kate, I can't explain right now. I just need to leave right now." Kate got in the elevator with him.

"Can't explain what?", he tried to look away but she cupped his face in her hands, "Rick, talk to me.", he let out a long sigh. "Ok, ill tell you but, I just need to go for a walk. Just to clear my head.", she was unsure but let him out. She got to her desk and sat down.

"Where's Castle?", asked Esposito.

"I don't know, he just left."

"Umm, well the girlfriend is here. You want me to talk to her?", Beckett got out of her haze and shook her head. After about half an hour of talking and comforting the distraught woman. Beckett went back to her desk. She was becoming more worried that Castle hasn't shown back up. So she decided to go looking for him. "Ryan, make sure the girlfriend alibis out, and get a hold of the parents. Espo, come with me."

"Where are we going?", he asked.

"To find Rick. I'm getting worried.", Gates ended up walking up to her.

"Why are you worried about him?", she asked.

"Sir, something's wrong him.", Gates held back a grin.

"You're just now figuring that out?"

"I mean he just barged out. He looked scared too. I think something's wrong." Gates sighed.

"All right, be back within half an hour."

* * *

He tried denying it to himself, but he knew he couldn't. That bullet was Alliance ammunition. Right down to the serial number on the shell. He had hoped that this was some weird coincidence, but the second he saw the symbol on the slug, he knew. For thirty years, he had been living on Earth-that-was. Thirty years, living as a different man, in a different time, in a planet that was extinct. He didn't what happened, he didn't know how they found him. He hadn't told Alexis or Kate about his past, his true past. How could he? But now, he had no choice. He was going to tell them both tonight. As he was walking aimlessly. He a heard a voice behind. It sounded like someone was saying his name. He turned and saw Kate and Espo coming towards him.

"Rick, what are you doing?"

"Kate I told you, I'm just goin for a walk."

"It's been almost an hour, I got worried.", he smiled and pulled her into his arms, holding her closely to him.

"I love you Kate, you know that right?", he broke away looking at her.

"Of course I do. Why are you even asking?"

"Because I need to tell you something, and I don't know how."

"Well just tell me."

"Perhaps I can help.", said a voice coming from the alley next to them. They walked into it and noticed at the end of the alley stood a man. But this man matched the description of the shooter they were looking for. Mid 40s, Caucasian, eye patch, everything. But Kate wasn't expecting what happened next. Rick walked behind her and drew her gun and began walking towards the man. When he was about five feet from him, the man drew his own gun and they both pointed their guns at each other. Espo drew his gun and began yelling at them.

"Castle what the hell are you doing?", he yelled at him.

"Get back Javi, NOW!", Rick yelled at him. "You too Kate."

"Rick what's going on?"

"Just stand back Kate."

"I would listen to him.", replied the man. They both just stared each other down until the man spoke. "Hello again Captain Reynolds.", Rick just glared at him.

"What are you doing here Dobson? It is Agent Dobson correct?", Dobson just let out a small laugh.

"So, you remember me then?"

"Oh yea, in fact I seem to recall shooting you in the head on Whitefall."

"Well as you can see, didn't work out so well."

"Like I said, what are you doing here? The warrant for the Tams was dropped."

"I know, It's you they want this time Captain. Ever since the Miranda broadcast, things have stirred up. You remember?"

"You bet your Gorram Pi Gu I remember.", Dobson just smiled. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device.

"Well now there's a bounty on you're head the size of your ship.", he looked him over one more time. "You know, you look good for a sixty year old." He pushed a button and light started to surround him. Then he disappeared. Rick lowered his gun. Kate and Javi ran up next to him.

"Rick, what the hell is going on?", asked Kate.

"My past just came back to haunt me."


	2. Chapter 2

Rick handed Kate's gun back to her. His mind was in a complete haze. He didn't understand how this was possible. He killed Agent Dobson, he shot him in the head and left him for dead on Whitefall. At least he thought he did. Out of all the things he expected to jump out from his past and bite him in the ass, this wasn't one of them. He snapped out of it when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He looked over at Kate trying to get his attention.

"Rick who was that man?", he knew he couldn't make up a lie this time.

"His name is Dobson, he's the shooter you're looking for.", Kate didn't understand how he knew this, but never the less, she turned to Esposito.

"All right call the precinct, tell em to put an APB-"

"It won't do any good.", Rick interrupted, "He doesn't exist in this time period.", Kate was really starting to get annoyed at this point.

"Look Rick, I really don't have time for one of your stupid theory's."

"Oh for God's sake, you saw him teleport. How can you explain that? Cause even I can't.", Kate just looked at him and sighed.

"So what are you suggesting?", Rick just stood there and thought about what to do.

"Ok, Espo, you need to get back to the precinct. Tell Ryan everything, and the both of you come to my loft tonight. Around 7:30. Do you understand?", Esposito didn't know how to respond, so he just nodded his head. "Kate, you have to come with me."

"Wait, Gates said we both have to come back.", Esposito added.

"Then make something up, tell her she got a lead, just do something. And watch your back. Try to stay at the precinct, you'll be safer there.", Esposito turned away and began walking back to the precinct. Rick managed to hail a cab, and he and Kate got in. "Bellevue Hospital Center, 462 First Avenue.", he told the cab driver. As they were on their way, Kate finally spoke up.

"Why are we going to Bellevue?"

"I need to talk to an old friend."

"Ok, why am I going with you?", she could tell by the look on his face that he didn't want to answer. He had a certain look of fear, with a slight hint of pain. However, he did answer her.

"Because the last time I dealt with one of these guys, they started by going after the ones I care about. I'm not taking any chances this time.", she wanted to ask what he meant, she wanted to know who that man was, she just wanted to know what was going on. However she didn't ask, because she was actually scared to know the answer.

* * *

Before she had more time to think, the cab had pulled up to the hospital. After Rick had paid him, they both entered. "Excuse me ma'am", he said to the young woman sitting at the front desk, "Is Dr. Tom Bowman available?"

"Do you have an appointment?", she asked.

"Uh no, I'm an old friend. It's really important that I see him."

"Let me see.", she picked up the phone, "What's your name?"

"Rick Castle.", she dialed a number on the phone.

"Hello Dr. Bowman, Yes I have a gentlemen here who would like to see you. He says he's a friend... Rick Castle... Ok. His office is on the fourth floor, room 308."

"Thank you.", they both took the elevator and eventually found the office. He knocked on the door, a few seconds later a man opened it. He was about the same age as Rick, maybe a couple of years younger, he wore a shirt and tie with a white lab coat, and he had black hair geld back. He was a fairly good looking man. He seemed stumped to see Rick.

"Rick... uhh it's good to see you.", said the man.

"It's been a long time Doc.", replied Rick.

"Yes it has, uh please have a seat.", they both sat down in two chairs and he sat behind a desk. Kate studied the environment, it was a small office, cozy. A couple of pictures with a woman and a boy who looked like him. She looked back at him and she saw that he was looking at her.

"Oh, Doc this Detective Kate Beckett. She's the inspiration for Nikki Heat."

"Ah, it's nice to meet you Detective.", he extended his hand and she shook it.

"Kate this is...", Rick went silent.

"What's wrong?", asked Kate. Rick went silent again. He just looked scared, he was really starting to scare Beckett. Then he looked back up at the Doctor.

"I just don't know how to introduce you."

"What do you mean?", he asked.

"We have a problem. A big one.", replied Rick.

"What do you mean? What happened?", Rick went quiet again, but only for a second. He then looked the Doctor straight in the eye.

"It's Agent Dobson, Simon. He's here, in New York.", this time it was the Doctor who went quiet. Only it didn't last too long. He went a quick shade of pale, and fast. He got up and began to pace.

"Whu du ma huh tah duh fong kwong duh wai shung!", Simon shout whispered.

"That's what I've been thinking for the last hour.", Simon quickly sat back down at his desk.

"Mal, please tell me you're joking."

"I wish I was, I wish to God I was. But it was him, no doubt about it.", replied Mal. Simon let out a really bad sigh and buried his face in his hands.

"Thirty years Mal. I mean I have a family, a career, I can't lose this.", said Simon, "How is he even here? You Killed him! I was standing right there.", Kate's head shot over towards Mal.

"Wait a second, who did you kill?", they both ignored her.

"And I thought the warrant on me and River was dropped."

"I don't think it's you they're after. I think it's me.", both men went silent for a moment. "Still, I felt you should be the first to know. And I really needed to see an old face.", Simon just sat back in his chair.

"So what do we do?"

"We need to get everybody together. You get Kaylee and River, I'll call everybody else. Be at my loft as soon as you can. Here's the address.", he took a pen and write it down on a sticky note and gave it to Simon. "Be careful." Mal and Kate both got up and left the office. Simon dialed his phone.

"Sara, cancel all appointments I have today. I have to leave, it's a family emergency... Ok thank you.", he got up and took his lab coat off and hung it up. He reached for his jacket and turned back to his desk. He opened up a drawer and pulled out a pistol and a clip. He slid in the clip, put the safety on, and put it in the back of his pants.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as they reached the cab, Mal grabbed his cell phone and immediately dialed Alexis. "Come on, pick up pick up.", he began muttering to himself.

_"Hey dad.",_ he heard Alexis answer.

"Oh thank God, Alexis are you ok?"

_"Uhh... yea. Is everything ok?"_

"Alexis I need you to listen to me very carefully. Have you seen a man with an eye patch anywhere near you today?", she just chuckled a bit.

_"Ok is this a game or something?"_

"Just answer the question.", she heard the sternness in his voice and realized he was being serious.

_"No, its been a fairly normal day."_

"Where are you?"

_"I'm in my dorm."_

"Ok listen, I'm sending your grandmother to come get you. You don't go anywhere until she gets there. Do you understand?"

_"Why? What's happening?"_

"I'll explain later tonight. I love you.", he hung up and let out an enormous sigh. He began to dial his mother, then Kate snatched his phone away. "What are you doing?"

"Tell me what's going on, now!", she shouted.

"I can't right now. Ok?"

"No, it's not ok. So far today, I've seen our killer teleport out of an ally, you drew my gun on this guy so you clearly know him, that doctor guy says you killed him, and you won't tell me a thing. Also why were they calling you Mal and Captain Reynolds?"

"Because Rick Castle is not my name! Rick Castle doesn't exist!", he shouted. He wanted to spill everything out right there in the cab, but he knew that it was a bad time. "Listen, I'm not giving you any reason right now to trust me, I understand. But this is a matter of life and death. Yes I know how cliché that sounds, but its true. Now please, give me my phone.", she was hesitant, but she did hand it back to him.

"Thank you.", he immediately dialed his mother. His mother was in their apartment getting ready to head off to her studio.

"Richard can you make it quick, I'm off to my class."

"You have to get a substitute, or cancel. You have to go get Alexis and bring her back to the loft."

"Why? Is everything ok?"

"No, it's the Alliance.", Martha didn't move. She just felt the chill run up her spine.

"Where is she?", she asked opening a drawer where she knew Mal kept a small revolver.

"She's in her dorm. Now bring her straight back to the loft."

"Is there anyone I need to be looking for in particular?"

"Yes, he has an eye patch on his right eye."

"I'm on my way.", she replied after checking that the gun was loaded.

"Mother... Zhu yi."

"Don't worry, I will.", she hung up. Castle just slumped back in the seat. Despite how fed up Kate was, she was also immensely worried about Rick. She knew that something was happening, and she could tell that he was afraid. She just looked at him.

"Rick, is this really bad? Whatever's happening?"

"Yes, it is."

"Just tell me one thing, just one. Are you going to tell me what's happening?", he looked at her right in the eye.

"Yes, I am. Tonight, I'll tell you everything."

* * *

Simon managed to make it to his loft without any complications. He went to the living room and found a young man and a young woman making out on the couch. He rolled his eyes and, very audibly, cleared his throat. They both saw him and the young man got up quickly.

"Dad... hi.", said the young man

"John, don't you homework or something?", Simon asked his son.

"Umm well Rachel was just in the neighborhood...", the young woman got up.

"I think I'll be going now. Nice to see you again Dr. Bowman.", she said.

"Always a pleasure Rachel.", the girl left. Simon just sighed.

"Teenagers.", he muttered to himself. He went to the kitchen and got out his cell phone when John came behind him.

"Dad, are you ok? You're usually never home this early."

"Yea I'm fine. Listen are going anywhere tonight? Out with friends?"

"I was planning on staying in. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering.", suddenly he heard both the door open and a voice he'd been longing to hear.

"So is there a reason why Rachel was walking down the hall with messy hair and trying to fix her shirt?", said Simon's wife as she came into the kitchen. The woman wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and grease stains on her face. She seemed shocked to see her husband. "Tom, what are you doing home early?", he just went up and engulfed her into one big hug, which caught her by surprise. "Oh, well I'm happy to see you too.", she giggled.

"Listen Sandy, we need to talk, privately.", then his son responded.

"Say no more. If anybody needs me, I'll be rotting my mind with Xbox.", he walked off. When they heard the door close, Sandy got closer.

"So, wanted me alone did ya?", she wrapped her arms around him and began kissing him. Simon wanted to tell her what was going on, but he thought this could last another minute. But then she moved her hands down further and felt something on his back. She reached back and pulled out the gun he had concealed. "What the hell are you doing with this?", he knew she had to know.

"Because Agent Dobson is here. He's in New York.", she froze at the sound of his name. Then she slowly moved her hand over her stomach to where her bullet scar was.

"But... But he's dead, the Capt'n shot him."

"Well it didn't kill him."

"How do you know?", she asked.

"Mal came by my office today. He told me he saw him, he said that we should go over to his place. We're all meeting.", she began to look scared and folded herself around Simon. "It's gonna be ok Kaylee, there's no way I'm letting that Hun-dan hurt you again. ", Kaylee just looked up at him.

"It's not me I'm worried about, it's John.", Simon nodded in agreement.

"Yea, me too. But he's seventeen, he's a smart kid, tough too. Something tells me he can be fine. But right now I need to make a call.", he dialed his phone. After a few seconds of ringing, a voice that he didn't want to hear answered.

_"Hello, this is Rico, personal manager of Crystal Bowman speaking. Who might be calling?" _

"Look at the caller ID Rico.", Simon answered, very annoyed.

_"Oh, hello Thomas. What can I do for you?"_

"I would like to speak with my sister."

_"Oh I'm sorry, she's in the middle of a rehearsal right now. May I take a message?"_

"No, you may interrupt the rehearsal and tell her that I'm calling and I need to talk to her.", Simon answered getting more annoyed.

_"Look Thomas, she has a very important production this wee-",_ Simon banged his fist on the counter, absolutely fed up.

"Listen Rico, I'm having a very bad day. So shut up and put my sister on the phone, NOW!", he yelled. He waited about two minutes until he heard the voice he wanted to hear.

_"Hi Tommy.",_ he heard his sister reply.

"Hey, Listen we need to talk.", before he could mention it, she replied.

_"Something has returned."_

"Yes, now River, I need you to listen to me very carefully."

* * *

On the other side of town, A certain police detective in the Gang's division was sitting at his desk. He was just munching away on a cheeseburger. When his phone rang, he answered with a mouthful, "Slaughter", the Detective answered.

_"It's me.",_ he heard a familiar voice reply.

"Well well, Richard Castle. What can I do I owe the pleasure?" He asked taking another bite.

_"Put the burger down Jayne. We need to talk.",_ he stopped chewing and swallowed quickly.

"All right, what's going on?", Jayne asked.

_"You remember agent Dobson, right?",_ asked Mal.

"The fed that shot Kaylee? Ya I remember him. Why?"

_"Well, he's here in New York.",_ Jayne then had the biggest look of confusion on his face.

"Wait, I thought you killed him."

_"Well he's not dead. Look you need to get to my loft, right now. Do you need my address?"_

"I can get it. But I don't get it, what's he doin here?"

_"I think they're after me."_

"Jeeze, what about the others?"

_"I'm getting them all right now, just get over here. And be careful."_, as he hung up, Jayne made sure his gun was loaded and headed out.

* * *

On another's side of town, at _Larry's taxi service_, a blond man sat at the dispatchers seat. It was an old fashioned looking taxi house, but it had a good reputation around the city. As a little girl walked up to him, he turned to her side. "Daddy, I'm having trouble with my multiplication.", she said. He then scooped her up on his lap and put her workbook on his desk.

"All right let's take a look here. Now remember sweetheart, just think of your even numbers. 2,4,6-", just then, his desk phone rang. "_Larry's taxi service_. Owner, founder, and head dispatcher Larry Harris speaking."

_"Wash, it's Mal.",_ he heard his old Captain say. He knew immediately something was wrong.

"Mal? What happened? What's going on?"

_"Look I don't have too much time to explain. But do you remember agent Dobson?",_ Wash had to think for a second.

"The Alliance agent who tried to take Simon and River? What about him?"

_"Well he's alive, and here in New York.",_ Wash, of course, got confused.

"But didn't you-", Mal cut him off.

_"Yes I shot him, but Apparently I didn't kill him.",_ Wash just sat back.

"Ta ma de.", he muttered to himself. "What are we gonna do?"

_"We're all meeting at my loft. I'm about to make one more call, then I'll call Zoe. She has my address. Just get over here quickly.",_ he then hung. Wash looked at his daughter.

"Anya, I need you to pack up your stuff and come with me sweetie."

"Where are we going?", she asked

"We're gonna go get mommy."

* * *

In the beautiful nature of the Catskill mountains lied _The Oasis of Serenity._ It was an absolutely beautiful spiritual retreat. In the heart of it stood a building where the owner of the place lived. Inside, her secretary answered a phone call.

"The Oasis of Serenity, would you like to make a reservation?"

_"No actually I need to speak with Ms. Navarro."_

"I'm sorry sir but she's meditating right now and wishes not to be disturbed."

_"Ma'am please, this is an emergency. Tell her it's Richard Castle."_

"Richard Castle? The author?"

_"Ma'am please, just get her.",_ the secretary put him on hold and went into the backroom where Ms. Navarro was meditating

"Ms. Navarro, I'm very sorry to disturb you. There is a man claiming to be Richard Castle on the phone for you, he says it's an emergency.", Ms. Navarro turned to see her secretary.

"Thank you Yvette, I'll take the call in here.", she moved to a small desk, with a telephone on it, and answered. "Richard?"

_"No Inara, It's Mal.",_ just like everybody else, her body chilled.

"Is everything ok?", she asked worried.

_"The Alliance has found us. It's Agent Dobson, he's here in New York. I don't know how he's alive, but he is and he's here.",_ basically saving her all of the questions.

"Are you all right Mal?", she asked.

_"Yea, so far I am. Now listen, I don't have too much time to talk. How soon can you get to the city?"_

"It'll take me a few hours."

_"Just get up here, and be careful. Use some of that guild Martial arts they teach you if you too. Grab a pen and paper and I'll give you my address.",_ she laughed a bit at his comment, then wrote down his address before he hung up.

* * *

At 'Marlow prep', Parent teacher night was about to begin. It always felt like a warzone to Principle Harris. Never the less, she always stuck it out. As she was about to go out, the lady at the front desk stopped her.

"Principle Harris, you have a call. A Mr. Richard Castle.", she stopped then turned back towards her office.

"I'll take it in here.", she shut the door and picked up the phone. "Well hello Mr. Castle, it's been a while."

_"Yes it has Zoe.",_ last but not least, Zoe knew that him calling her by name was not a good sign.

"What's the situation sir?", she asked her Captain.

_"I don't have time to give all the details. But the Alliance has found us. Agent Dobson is here in New York. Apparently shooting him in the head wasn't enough to kill him. I already called Wash, he's on his way to come get you. We're all meeting in my loft tonight."_

"Understood sir.", replied Zoe. "What time do we need to get there?"

_"As soon as you can. And Zoe?"_

"Yes sir?"

_"Be careful, I'm gonna need you on this one.",_ with that he hung up. Just as she did, she walked out of her office and there stood Wash and their daughter. They both nodded to each other and headed out.

**Authors note: Ok I know not much happened, but I wanted to show what each of the crew does with their lives on Earth-that-was. Also, there was no way in Hell Zoe was gonna be that reality star woman, but we all knew Jayne had to be Detective Slaughter. **


	4. Chapter 4

"Be careful, I'm gonna need you on this one", Mal said finishing the last of his phone calls to the crew. Just him and Kate sat in the loft together. He put down the cellphone and sat back in his chair in his office. Kate was in the living room because he asked to be alone during the calls. Which was good, because it gave him some time to clear his head. He decided to really relive his old days. He went to a cabinet and opened it up, pulling out a small case. He put it on the desk, undid the latches, and opened it. He just sat and looked at it's contents. Kate was watching the entire time, she couldn't see what was in the case so she knocked on the door. He closed the case and put it under his desk. He walked up and opened the door.

"So who were all those people you just called?", asked Kate.

"Friends, very old friends.", replied Mal. The door opened up and Martha and Alexis walked through. Mal saw them both and bolted out of his office. He grabbed Alexis and pulled her into a crushing embrace.

"Dad, what's the big emergency?", she asked while being buried into his hug. He ignored her and looked at his mother.

"Any trouble?", Martha shook her head. "Ok, mother I need to talk to you, alone.", she nodded and she followed Mal into his office. Mal shut and locked the door. Kate tried to listen in, but she wasn't prepared on what she was about to hear. They began speaking in Chinese.

"Why are we speaking like this?", asked Martha in her and her son's second language.

"So Kate and Alexis can't listen in on us.", replied Mal. "So you didn't have any trouble at all on your way up here?"

"Not one, which is making me nervous. Now how do you know the Alliance is here?", Mal sighed and walked back to his desk.

"A student from Columbia university was murdered this morning by an Alliance agent named Dobson. Let's just say, he and I aren't on friendly terms."

"What does that mean?"

"I gave the him the eye patch he now wears. It was when the Tam's came on to my ship. He's the agent I shot in the head.", Martha went silent for a second trying to remember the story.

"So, now what?"

"I called the crew, they're on their way now.", Just as he said that, he heard a knock on the door. He left his office and looked through the peep hole. Kate observed his face, and finally, for the first time all day, saw him smile. He opened the door, and there stood Simon and Kaylee. "Well, hello again."

"Hello Mal", replied Simon. Then Mal looked at Kaylee.

"Hey mei-mei. How are ya?", Kaylee just gave him one of her old cute smiles.

"Shiny Capt'n.", they looked at each other for a second before they both wrapped their arms around each other, laughing loudly. After he placed a kiss on her head, they both let each other go. Mal directed them toward his office. Kate wasn't able to even get a word in, so she turned to Martha, who had left his office.

"That's the Doctor we visited earlier. Who is he? And who was that woman with him?", asked Kate.

"They're old friends of my son.", Alexis came up to the two of them.

"Umm am I missing something here? I feel kind of left out.", Kate put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Yea, me too.", after about ten minutes, another knock came at the door. Beckett decided to answer it this time. At the door was another couple, this time it was a blond haired man wearing a very loud Hawaiian shirt and a woman who Alexis recognized instantly.

"Principle Harris?", asked Alexis as she saw her old high school principle. Zoe just smiled.

"Hey Alexis.", just then Mal came out of the office and saw the pair.

"Wash, Zoe, we're meeting in here.", said Mal. They both went into the office. Kate once again tried to speak, but was snubbed again. To say that she was getting annoyed was an understatement. But she didn't have time to think, because there was a knock at the door not a minute later. This time Martha answered it.

"Ah, hello Jayne.", said Martha.

"Mrs. Reynolds, always a pleasure.", replied Jayne. As he walked in, he caught the eye of Kate.

"Detective Slaughter? What are you doing here?", she asked not expecting to see this guy ever again.

"Personal invitation by your boyfriend.", he looked around, "Got anything to eat around here?"

"Jayne.", called Mal looking out his office, "We're in here."

"Well, gotta run, duty calls.", he walked back to the office and closed the door. Kate didn't even try to get a word in, she knew it'd be useless. After Jayne went inside, she turned to Martha.

"Look, normally I wouldn't go behind Rick's back, but I need to know what's going on.", Martha looked at her and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, he'll tell you.", Kate was going to make another attempt at asking, but decided not to. After another fifteen minutes, the door received another knock. This time Mal left his office and answered it himself. A woman in her late twenties in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a denim jacket was at the door. Mal smiled when he saw her.

"Hey there lill Albatross, good to see ya."

"Same to you Captain.", Simon peeked his head out and saw his sister. He went up and gave her a big hug.

"Next time, tell that pi gu manager of yours to put me through instead of making me wait.", River giggled.

"Sorry about that, he can be a bit acentric sometimes. I have a very important performance next week.", Mal directed them both towards his office. Kate woke up after she had nodded off, she looked up at clock and saw that she had been out for two hours. She walked up to try once again to listen in, but all she heard was Chinese. Her patience was wearing uncharacteristically thin. She was now ready to bust the door down and get some answers. Martha saw the look in her face, and walked up to her.

"Sweetheart, I understand that you must be frustrated, and I can't imagine what must be going through your head right now. But you need to just have some faith, and understand that he'll tell you as soon as he can."

"Martha, I've been waiting all day for him to talk.", said Kate with a look that could kill, "But right now, he's pushing every single limit that I could possibly have. I want answers, and I want them now.", Alexis spoke up.

"Yea I'm with Kate on this one, he's never like this. This is like the dirty bomb thing all over again. Except worse.", Martha raised her hand with an exasperated look, just then, another knock, the last knock, came at the door. Martha decided to open it, and there stood a beautiful, exotic looking woman in a beautiful dress.

"Inara, glad you could finally make it.", said Martha as she hugged the woman, "They're meeting in there."

"Thank you Mrs. Reynolds." Inara made her way to the office unaware that Kate was watching her. Martha walked back over and saw the look on her face.

"Who's that?", asked Kate.

"That was Inara, the last of our guests. Now I promise, just give them a little time, and you'll have all your answers.", Kate looked like she was about to blow a gasket, but she made her way back to the sofa. While in the office, the other's continued their discussion. Of course, all she could hear was Chinese.

"What happened to our theory that the Alliance are the ones who did this to us?", asked Wash.

"Well if they sent us back, why are they coming after us now?", asked Zoe.

"...Good point.", replied Wash.

"Well if it wasn't them, who was it?", asked Inara.

"Look, we all got questions. But right now, we need to come up with a plan.", said Mal

"Well it ain't just us we gotta worry about. We all got families and lives now. I swear if that hun dan touches my little girl, things will get ugly.", said Jayne. Simon looked like he was about to respond, then a very loud silence fell over the room as all heads turned towards Jayne. He just looked confused, "What?", he asked.

"Well, what's her name?", asked Kaylee. Jayne smiled in a surprisingly warm sense as he reached back and pulled out his wallet. He took a picture of a little twelve year old girl out of it and handed it to Kaylee.

"Her name is Vera.", they all looked at the picture and shared expressions of shock.

"Jayne... She's beautiful.", said Kaylee. After a few seconds Mal coughed to break the silence.

"He's right, where are all your children? Are they safe?"

"Well John is staying in tonight, our building has high security, plus he knows how to take care of himself. Twelve years of Martial arts should help.", replied Kaylee.

"We dropped Anya off at a friend's house, we managed to convince them it was a family emergency.", replied Wash.

"She's staying at her mom's this weekend. Thank God.", replied Jayne.

"What about Alexis?" asked Zoe,

"You sure you want to tell her? I mean, we're seriously wondering if we should tell our son or not.", said Kaylee. Before he could have a chance to respond, another knock came at the door. He wasn't expecting anybody else, so he looked out to see who it was. Kate was already looking through the peephole and he saw her smile. She opened it up, and saw Esposito and Ryan walk in. She turned and saw him looking, so he closed the door and looked back at his crew.

"Ok, I have a daughter, and a very angry girlfriend who deserve an explanation. So just wait here for me.", they all nodded as Mal went and quickly grabbed a black circular object out of a drawer. He walked up to the door, and turned his head to look at them all. "Wish me luck."

* * *

They all stood in the living room as mal walked in. He saw the fire burning in Kate's eyes, as he new she was getting unbelievably annoyed. He looked at Alexis, who seemed very worried. "Ok, you've all waited long enough, it's time you all knew the truth.", he sat down in a chair and let out an enormous sigh. "Now I'm still the man you think I am, but you don't the whole story. Richard Castle is not my name, it's just a name I made up on the spot.", they all began to look confused, "My name is Malcolm Reynolds, Captain Malcolm Reynolds to be exact.", they just looked more confused.

"Captain? Of what?", asked Alexis.

"The Serenity.", he replied.

"What the Hell is that? A boat or something?", asked Kate.

"Sort of, it is a ship. A starship to be exact.", an expression of utter disbelief crossed Kate's face.

"Ok, Rick, I'm exhausted, I'm at the end of my rope, I wanna know what's really going on, now.", with all trace of calmness escaping her. Mal pulled out the small disk and placed it on a table. They all looked at it in confusion. He put his finger on it, and it began to light up. To the amazement of everyone in the room. A pure, clear, holographic image of a ship appeared in front of them.

"Now tell me this, do you know of any holographic images like this in existence right now? Cause I don't.", they were all stunned into silence. As Mal began to explain.

"It's a Firefly class transporter. It's used for cargo transport, passenger transport, and certain features make it good for smuggling. Well I should start by telling you from where I'm from. Five hundred years now, Earth is gone. Burnt up, unable to sustain our numbers. So the human race searched for a new home. They found a new cluster of Solar systems with dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. So they shipped out and terraformed them all. First, you have the core planets, which have all the high tech futuristic technology that you would expect. The outer rim planets however, well they struggle, using mostly basic tecnhnology and such. Two major governments were still functioning by this time: The governments of America and China. They fused together to form the Alliance. At first, they wanted control of just the Core planets and leave the outer rim planets alone. But they decided to try and take control of us as well. Basically, it erupted into a Civil War. I fought for the independents side, which fought the Alliance.", they all seemed shocked by this.

"You were in the military?", asked Esposito. Castle kinda smiled.

"Hard to believe right? Well I was, I was Sergeant. I fought along side many fine people we fought hard until...", he stopped right there, wondering if he should tell them about Serenity Valley or not."

"Until what?", asked Ryan. Mal decided it was another story for another time.

"We lost, badly. So the Alliance gained control of everything. After the war I went into the transporting business, which is more or less the smuggling business. I got me a ship, a crew, and I never stopped flying.", there was literally not a single sound in the room. Kate was desperately trying to believe that he was lying, but she couldn't explain how, she just knew it was true. Alexis had the purist look of shock, learning that the man who raised her was never who he she thought he was. But she looked him timidly in the eye and spoke up.

"How did you get here?"

"Well, we were doin a job for these guys called Fanty and Mingo. Just a couple of fences, we'd worked with them in the past. Well we were about half way to Beamonde, which was our meeting place, and the cargo we were transporting began to glow.", their confused faces came back.

"What do you mean glow?", asked Kate.

"Well, the inside began to start shining this weird bright light, the next we knew, each of us was in Central park. And so was my mother.", all eyes turned toward Martha.

"I wondered when you were gonna get to me. Well, first off, my name is actually Rosemary Reynolds, or Rose for short. I don't know what happened either, I went to the kitchen in my home, next thing I knew, bright light and in the past. I also wound up in central park with them all.", They all just looked astounded. not a word was being spoken. Mal spoke up.

"Well, I guess it's time you met the crew.", he walked back to his office and led everybody out. He pointed to Jayne first, "This here, is Jayne Cobb. He's our merc, you pay him, he'll get the job done. He's also a weapons expert. Here on Earth, he's Detective Ethan Slaughter, Gangs division at the 12th precinct.", he moved on to Inarra next, "This is Inara Serra, She's a bonafide Companion.", Kate interrupted.

"What does that mean?", Inara looked at Mal, waiting for him to call her a whore, but to her surprise, he seemed conflicted on what to say.

"I'll find a way to explain later. Anyway on Earth, her name is Maria Navarro. She's the owner of _The Oasis of Serenity_, a spiritual retreat.", he moved down the line again and came to the Tams. "Now we come to the Tams. This here is Tam, our medic. He was a Trauma surgeon on his home planet Osiris and through a very odd turn of events, he wound up on my ship. On Earth, He's Dr. Tom Bowman, one of the chief Trauma surgeons at Bellevue. This is his wife Kaylee Tam, our Mechanic. This girl could take an engine apart put it back together sixteen times, in a row, blindfolded, without making a single mistake. The best damn mechanic in the Verse is what I call her. On Earth, she's Sandy Bowman, Owner of _Sandy's auto shop_, best auto shop this side of the Brooklyn bridge. And now we come to his sister, River. She's a complicated story, she came with her brother. She's an absolute genius, and she can kill you before you had a chance to blink.", which earned a gulp from Esposito, "On Earth, she's Crystal Bowman. One of the most well respected and famous Ballerinas in America.", Suddenly, Ryan spoke up.

"I knew you looked familiar, I took my wife to see you in 'The Nutcracker' last Christmas. You were breathtaking.", While River smiled, the others stared at him.

"Bro, time and a place.", said Esposito. Mal continued.

"Anyway, last but not least, we come to the Washburnes. This is Hoban Washburne, or Wash as we call him, our Pilot. This guy can outfly probably over half of the pilots the Alliance could ever dream to have. On Earth, he's Larry Harris, owner of _Larry's taxi service_. Without a doubt, one of the best cab companies in the state. And last and certainly not least, Zoe Washburn, Wash's wife, and my second in command. She's fierce, loyal, and if you piss her off, oh Lord you will regret it. Here on Earth, she's Gina Harris, and she has the best job that I could ever ask for. She's the Principle at 'Marlow prep', Alexis's high school." After the meeting of the crew, another knock came at the door. They all looked surprise. Mal slowly made his way to the peephole and saw a man with a bike helmet on and a sweaty shirt holding an envelope. He opened it up and the man spoke.

"Got a delivery for Richard Castle.", as he held up the envelope. Mal took the envelope and signed for it. He opened up the envelope and took out a letter. He read it out loud.

"_Central park, tonight 8:00pm sharp. You know where._", the crew sat in silence as the people from the present looked confused. Mal looked up at the clock and saw that it was only twenty minutes until 8:00.

"Trap?", asked Zoe.

"Quite possibly.", replied Mal.

"We goin in?", asked Jayne.

"Oh defiantly. You all armed?", each person there nodded their head. Then he walked over to the everyone from the present. "Ok listen, we need to go the park, so you guys are invited if you want. We'll probably need the extra guns."

"Wait wait wait, what do you mean guns?", asked Kate.

"Well odds are, there might be violence. Which is why Alexis is staying here.", Alexis got mad, very quickly.

"To Hell with that, I'm going too."

"Look Alexis, I don't have time to argue. These are dangerous people, I'm not taking the risk."

"Well maybe you should've thought about that before you decided to lie to me my entire life.", she shot back, very coldly. Mal was getting frustrated.

"Ok, but you stay to the back at all times. Any signs of trouble, you start running.", she nodded her head as he headed back to his office. Kate followed him.

"Rick, what are you doing?", she saw him digging around in a cabinet and saw him pull out a gun belt. He tightened it up and tied the holster string to his leg. Then reached for the case. He put it back on his desk and opened it up. Kate finally saw what was in it. He pulled out, a very odd looking bronze pistol. Before she could speak, he straightened his arm, looking down the sight of the gun in a speed she didn't know he even had. Then he holstered the pistol and looked at her.

"Let's go."

**Author's note: Ok I know this is long, but I couldn't figure out how to separate this into different chapters. Also, I especially wanna give credit to my sister who helped me right this chapter. It was hard to write, so she helped me out. Well thanks for reading, please comment and maybe favorite it if your nice. **


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